Investigators from Washington, California, Oregon, Texas and New York are all involved in this pretexting mess:

Emilio Torrella, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Brandy Torella, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Steve Berwick, BNT Investigations, Washington State
Victoria Tade, C.I., Inc., California
Megan Ososke, P.I. and Information Services, Oregon
Robert Grieve, Robert Greive International, Texas
Ziad Sakhleh, Robert Greive International, Texas
Darci Templeton, sole proprietor, Texas
Patrick Bombino, AAA Allstate Investigations, New York
Esau Pinto, AAA Allstate Investigations, New York

Primaries and subcontractors are both represented here... It seems pretty clear that in the wake of the HP publicity one step removed isn't going to be a helpful buffer when it comes to pretexting / ID theft-related allegations.

And that's a good thing. This kind of conduct is an insult to the investigative process - whereby legitimately obtained public records and source interviews produce actionable information on behalf of clients.

Check out the comments from Wired's information security blog right here and don't miss the link to the full indictment, (filed in the Western District of Washington State) which should make for interesting reading.

-- MDT

Labels: indictment, pretexting, private investigator